Birmingham Ladies 1-1 Lincoln Ladies

The maths (or math if you are American) going into this game for Lincoln Ladies was very simple. A draw or a victory would see Lincoln make the semi finals of the Conentinal Cup. If Lincoln bettered Arsenal's result against already eliminated Bristol then Lincoln could win the group. From a Birmingham point of view they really needed to win today to advance. They could do it with a draw, but that would only be good enough if Bristol beat Arsenal at Borehamwood (unlikely in my view)

 As we saw on our last visit down to these parts, Stratford-upon-Avon looked like a decent little place to spend an hour, so the bus left an hour earlier than our first jaunt so that we could have a look round (or in my case checkout the local hostelry scene) Its a nice treat going to places like this, as all too often on my football travels at various levels of the game i tend to end up at less than scenic  locations (sh*tips in layman's terms). For every Chester, York, or Statford-upon-Avon i visit, there are plenty of Hydes, Rotherhams, Frickleys, and Southends to be explored.
Thankfully we didn't have to walk far from where the bus dropped us off to the nearest pub, which was a quaint little place called the Pen and Parchment that had a cracking beer garden and which was just perfect to spend an hour drinking. If we didn't have a football game to go to i could quite happily spend several more hours outside here. For the first time this season it actually felt like a summer day. 

The two sides have already locked horns at Straford this season and fought out a 1-1 draw. A repeat of that result and performance today would do just nicely from an Imps point of view. So far its been a tough season for Birmingham City ladies. Their defence of the FA cup ended in spectacular style at the quarter final stage with a 6-0 drubbing by Arsenal. In the league they have collected three points from their three games to date with all three matches being draws. So if you an optimist you can point to the claim that they are still unbeaten in the league this season or if you a pessimist (which in my experience is about 85% of all football fans) then you can make a big thing of the fact that they are yet to win a league game this season. They have two wins this season however; they have recorded a 2-0 win over league leaders Bristol in the Continental Cup, and beat Cardiff City away 3-1 in the FA Cup.

The clubshop

On my last blog i did about the league game here, i bemoaned the fact that there didn't seem to be a bar. However i have since been told that one does indeed exist. So with that in mind it would be damn rude not to check it out wouldn't it? I managed to find it, tucked away in the corner of the ground. My efforts in hunting it down were rewarded with a rum and coke and a chat with a couple of fantastic Lincoln Ladies fans. The bar itself is on the small side but it does the job and has Sky TV, so its by no means a lost cause.
With kick off approaching it was time to drag my arse out of the bar and part with my £6 and watch Lincoln hopefully claim a semi final spot.
 Birmingham got us underway and promptly just booted it straight out of play to pen Lincoln back in their own half. Knowing that Birmingham had to win this game they started at a quick tempo and forced Karen into an early save which she tipped round the post for a corner which they wasted. However they didn't have to wait long before they took the lead. Just three minutes into the game Rachel Williams latched onto Jo Potter's great through ball; breaching Lincoln's offside trap and produced a cool low finish that gave Bardsley no chance at all. Now its never great to lose a goal after three minutes but as an optimist i look at the fact that it gives us 87 minutes (plus added time) to find a goal ourselves.

The goal didn't rock Lincoln and they did start to settle down and get themselves back into the game, backed by their very vocal travelling supporters. Lincoln were getting plenty of joy down the flanks with Roberts and Clarke but the final ball wasn't quite there. Birmingham themselves weren't creating too many chances with their only real goal threats being from set pieces. Blues and England midfielder Rachel Unitt went down when unchallenged and forced the homeside into a change. As this caused a break in play i thought it the perfect time to grab a bite to eat so i took a stroll round to the snap hut. The bad news was that they had run out of chips but had sent somebody to go and fetch some more.

 As life is all about adapting to different challenges placed in front of you, at short notice i ordered a double cheeseburger instead of the standard cheeseburger and chips. It was quite filling and i struggled to finish it. I am not sure whether there is a link between the burgers and this local company that has an advertising board at the ground. If there is then its a fantastic bit if thinking by the club's commercial department.

Anyway back to the game. On 37 minutes Lincoln were back on level terms. Remi Allen surged into the box and was brought down by Blues player Hannah George (who was on for Unitt) The referee who had "an indifferent game" pointed straight to the spot. Remi is one of the most solid penalty takers i have seen in football and had a 100% record from the spot last season. This time however Blues Keeper Mary Earps got a hand to it and parried it out. Thankfully for Lincoln however Carla Cantrell was the first to react and slammed in the rebound. Birmimhgam raised a head of steam following this and forced a smart save from Bardsley and a couple of corners before the ref blew for halftime.

Quick sketch of the goal.

As it stood at halftime Lincoln were not only going through to the semi finals but were also on course to win the group as Arsenal were losing 1-2 at home to Bristol.

Just after halftime it looked like Lincoln should have had a second penalty when Carla Cantrell appeared to be fouled in the area but the ref waved away the protests from Lincoln players and fans. I had a pretty decent view of it as we were stood at the end that Lincoln were attacking and it looked like a decent shout to me. Shortly after Lincoln themselves had some reshuffling to do, when skipper Casey Stoney left the field with what looked like an upper leg injury to be replaced by Bonnie Horwood.

 Birmingham were really trying to force the game but Lincoln, as they had done on Wednesday night, held firm. Emily Roberts did brilliantly to clear a blues chance off the line, but that was as close as the hosts got to getting a winner. As Birmingham pushed up it left Lincoln with plenty of space and opportunities to counter, and Precious Hamilton really came into the game and provided a valuable outlet for Lincoln to counter with.

About midway through the second half we had one of the most amusing moments of the season so far. Lincoln sent a long ball over the top and although it was beyond Emily Roberts, it did find its way to Blues defender Emily Westwood, given that Roberts was bearing down on her she had to hit it first time but however she managed to shank it out off the pitch to give Lincoln a cheap corner. This happened right in front of the main group of Lincoln fans and so drew a huge cheer and a few honks for good measure. As you can imagine Westwood wasn't too amused by this response and gave us the kind of death stare that a man normally receives from his wife/girlfriend/partner when he tells them that he is only poping out for "A couple of pints" and returns 7 hours later at 2.00am, barely able to speak more than two sentences, 60 quid worse off, and with kebab sauce all down his shirt.
Lincoln however didn't take advantage of this gift of a corner as it sailed straight out of play. Oh well easy come, easy go as they say. In defence of Emily Westwood she has represented England at all levels so i think this sort of blooper must be a rarity. I have certainly shanked  plenty of clearances like this in my time so I feel her pain.

As the game wore on it became more of a case of attack versus defence, but in keeping with much of the season Lincoln didn't allow Birmingham many clear sights on goal and their work rate was second to none. Karen was called into action in the dying moments however but she pulled off a fantastic diving catch to keep the scores level. Finally after four long minutes of added on time the ref blew; Lincoln had booked their place in the semi final and had knocked out the side that had beaten them in the semi final last season.

Elsewhere in the Continental Cup Arsenal staged a second half fight back to beat Bristol 4-2 and win group A; forcing Lincoln into second place. Over in Group B Liverpool slammed in 4 without reply to beat Chelsea away and win the group. Everton take the runners up spot in the group after a 3-1 win at Doncaster Saturday night. This leaves us with the following semi final line up.

Arsenal v Everton

Liverpool v Lincoln

After the game it was great to see the players come over as the players and fans applauded each other. Following this we headed over to the bar for an hour before we set off home. The players came in and were happy to mingle with both sets of fans. This kind of stuff is great to see but i must admit i was a little star struck by the whole thing. Strange thing is when i am professionally covering games i feel totally different in press conferences, interviews etc. Very strange.

On the way home i was reflecting on the cup run so far, and i think that getting out of our group this time was a far bigger achievement than last year when we won all three games including that win over Arsenal. Unlike last season we had two away games out of three, with the only home game being against Arsenal who are the FAWSL champions and always give you a hard game and we gained a point from that. Then we had a trip to the current FAWSL league leaders and FA Cup finalists Bristol, where we recorded a great 1-0 win. Last up this away game with Birminhgam, who knew they had to win, and as such we kind of knew we would be under pressure for long periods in the game. To get 5 points from these three games is in my view quite impressive.
And so Liverpool await us away in the semi final stage. They have started the season well but we have nothing to fear. The semi finals arent played till after the midseason break so a lot can change in that time. As of the time of writing, we dont have a date for the game yet but whenever it is played however, we will be ready and waiting and all set to go.

 Just to finish; a bit of fun. I had such a huge response to my last fun question on the blog that i just had to do another one (Nic Hobbs was last week's answer folks). This week we have a caption competition. The prize again is a signed picture and a drink (soft or otherwise) at the next away game. Answers either here or on twitter @ferretimp.
Have fun and here's your picture.

Lincoln ladies 2-2 Birmingham City Ladies

The last couple of weeks have seen the Lady Imps in Cup action. Today was the start of the highly anticipated  League campaign. The last week or so has been a busy one for all the teams in the League as the women's game has received a decent amount of coverage and debate over the last week or so. I do get the feeling that the women's game is certainly on the up and interest is growing. Although coverage of the women's game isn't anywhere near that of what the men's receives, it is getting better. And with a few more games like this i am sure that Lincoln Ladies crowds will continue to grow.

Birmingham finished as runners up to Arsenal last season and have got off to a flyer this time around having won two matches in the FA Cup and one in the Continental cup. So basically they are no mugs. However Lincoln's form has also been good as the girls recorded a good 2-1 away win at Chelsea in their last game. Arriving at the ground it was good to see quite a few people around even though it was a good 45 minutes or so before the kick off.  The matchday programme was on sale for £2.50 included with the programme was a copy of the latest issue of She Kicks, the women's football magazine which is a decent read and covered all aspects of the women's game. The club merchandising department have been busy it the last couple of weeks with new scarves also on sale. The girls were also playing in the new home strip for the first time. Its a bit different to the last couple of home shirt as it is a white shirt with a  red and  black horizontal strip across the top. As a life long Inter fan i don't normally like anything red, black, and white but i must say that it is a rather smart outfit. Hopefully i will purchase one, but when i do it will be sods law that the first thing i will do will be to spill beer down it before a game, thus looking like a total prat for the rest of the day.

First port of call as always was the tea stall for a brew. As we were doing that the Lincoln players were going through a series of  gruelling looking exercises with some large elastic bands. Then followed a series of sprints and ball work. As we supped our brew a charming young lady came round asking us if we wanted to sign up to a free WSL loyalty card. Basically every home league match you attend you get your card stamped and you receive various freebies. As if this wasn't good enough the girl taking them round was a fellow Panthers fan (she spotted my cap) Its always nice to chat to a fellow fan of Nottingham's most successful sports side. Its an exciting time for us Panthers fans as today we were in the playoff final and on the verge of another double which means we have won more in the last two years than Forest and Notts County have in about 15 seasons combined, but going back to the loyalty card its great to see the League being pro active with stuff like this and encouraging more spectators to attend regularly.

We viewed the first half of the game from the end that the Imps were attacking. Blues were fast out of the blocks and had their hosts on the back foot early on. The last time i watched the Imps Laura Alleway was a rock at the back for the Imps but she was unavailable today and it looked as if they were missing her early on. Lincoln weathered the early storm and came back into the game, with Remi Allen making a couple of good runs from midfield. Which were ended by some cynical Birmingham defending. Lincoln did force a couple of corners which resulted in Jess Clarke going close.
Lincoln did take the lead in the 10th minute with an excellent goal from Precious Hamilton when she lobbed the keeper from the edge of the box. The goal gave the game even more intensity which resulted in some heavy challenges flying in. Blues were really struggling to deal with Jess Clarke's pace and so resorted to chopping her down at every opportunity.

Precious Hamilton. Scorer of the Lady Imps first goal.

There was a huge let off for the Imps on the half hour when Birmingham attacked and unleashed a shot from about 25 yards which was swirling and dipping. Hobbs in the Lincoln goal parried it out to a Birmingham attacker who thankfully managed to blast the ball out of the ground from about 3 yards out.  

Blues did equalise though shortly after, when a ball from the right was headed in by Kaz Carney. Lincoln were rattled by this and had Hobbs to thank for keeping the scores level when she tipped over a effort from Williams. Thankfully they wasted the following corner by curling it straight out of play. It was the last chance of the first half. Lincoln were playing the better football of the two sides with Birmingham being more direct.

The ref was letting quite a few heavy challenges go unpunished which was playing into the visitors hands.

 HT 1-1

Lincoln retook the lead just after halftime when Clarke was brought down in the box by Kerys Harrop who was having a bit of a mare up against Jess all day. Midfield dynamo Remi Allen step up and converted the penalty. All of a sudden Lincoln had got their spark back and were dictating the game. They could have gone further infront when Hamilton on the counter fired a cross in for the on rushing Lucy Staniforth to direct her diving header wide and get her nice new shiny white shirt covered in muck in the process.
The ref was starting to lose control of the game and kept his cards in his pocket when perhaps a yellow or two would have calmed the game down a bit as some of the Birmingham tackling was a little over the top. Birmingham got their second goal on 68 minutes through a great finish by Eniola Aluko which gave Hobbs no chance. Although it was a good finish Lincoln did have a couple of chances to clear the ball before she stuck it in the back of the net. The move first started form a long clearance from the Blues half so i think the Lady Imps management will feel the goal could have been avoided.

After that the game kind of petered out. Lincoln kept getting free kicks but didn't really do anything with them. The best chance to win the game fell to the visitors but Hobbs saved well from Aluko a minute or two before time.
 FT 2-2

On the face of it a draw at home to the a side like Birmingham isn't to bad a result although after taking the lead twice the Lady Imps will be disappointed not to have taken the points by giving Blues two sloppy goals. On the plus side though Lincoln really stood up to them and kept playing their football despite the visitors physical approach to the game. Lincoln have a very young side but Casey Stoney lead them brilliantly and kept a lid on things. Lincoln certainly created much more than we did against Arsenal although without Alleways height they didn't look quite as deadly at corners. Remi Allen thoroughly deserved her Lady of the Match award for her battling in midfield. In my view all of the girls played well but special mentions also go to Clarke and Hobbs.
Off the field the day was a success as well with a decent crowd of 310 watching the game. It was also pleasing to see there was a good mixture of fans young and old. Quite a few of the youngsters from the Club's centre of excellence were on duty helping out here and there. As the season goes on and word gets out how good this Lincoln side is (and how good the cups of tea are) i am sure the crowds will rise even more.